A Day in the Crypts, A Night at the Opera (Week 4)

I was lucky to have gotten some rest the weekend before because Vienna was truly insane. It seems like I'm doing so much each day and have to fight to keep up with it all. At this point of the program, time seems to be moving at a ridiculous speed like I'm in some strange science fiction movie. That's really a shame because I would have liked to stay as long as possible in Vienna. In terms of beauty, I think the city surpasses even Paris. It's strange to me that such an amazing city with such an amazing history was never known to me before other than as "a large city in Austria". Regardless of past beliefs, I certainly know it now. Even counting weekend trips, this was probably my favorite city of all we've visited.
One of the most captivating things about Vienna is its history, and the catacombs are a great example of this. When I first entered the catacombs, I was a little taken aback to see legitimate graves and large stone coffins. It turns out that a large number of cardinals and bishops were actually buried here. Seeing their tombs was a really surreal experience, especially since I could recognize many of the names etched into the stone. Eventually I got to see the side of the catacombs that I was more familiar with, the mass graves. In these rooms, bones were basically stacked from floor to ceiling. In some of the rooms even the walls were made of bones. The eerie darkness and tunnels certainly didn't help to relieve the atmosphere of dread that permeated this place. It was more than a little unsettling to think that I was standing in an area that had become the final resting place for tens of thousands of those who died in the plague and for other reasons. On one hand I was glad to be out by the time we left, but on the other hand I was so enthralled by the bleak history that I found it hard to leave.

One of the less depressing activities the city had to offer was the Sigmund Freud Museum. Though it had been turned into a fully-fledged museum, the building had once been Freud's personal home. That only made it more interesting. Seeing this great thinker's home as I learned about his life was a much better way to get a feeling of the man's ideas than any standard tour would be. Though this study abroad program is constantly teaching me things, this might have been the place where I learned the most in the quickest amount of time. This was only supplemented by the more in-depth lecture on Freud's ideas given by Dr. Wasser. Though it couldn't be given in Freud's home due to a scheduling error by the museum, it nonetheless gave me a much greater understanding of the subject. Whether you agree with his thinking or not, it's hard to argue that Freud wasn't revolutionary.
For me, the last huzzah of Vienna was the operetta. Taking place on an outside stage, it was actually much less formal than I originally expected. In my mind this was a good thing, and I felt like I was getting a bit cultured regardless. Though I understood very little of what was being said, it was easier to follow the story (after an outline by Dr. Wasser) than I feared it would be. This was partially due to the acting and musical cues and partially because the few Germans words I did know were sufficient to get the main points across to me. I was actually quite proud of myself for picking up on so much. Much like the operetta, my story in Vienna had a happy ending. I was very sad to leave, but I'm looking forward to closing up the program strong. It's hard to imagine that there's only a week left. What an incredibly fast experience Europe has been.